Seems like quite a number of ppl are coming end of Sept around the time of Tokyo Game Show (Sept 24-27). Perhaps we can have a little gathering around that time?

asuk: Nice pictures! I recognize the Sapporo Clock Tower. haha...

If you search for the term budget and expenses in this thread; I think you'll find previous post on estimated daily budgets and also how much are the usual stuffs eg train rides, food.

You should get JR Pass if you're planning to visit multiple cities. Since you have a month, you can split it up to 2 parts where you activate a 14days Rail Pass and cover places like Tokyo-Nikko-Sendai-Hakone-Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe and then you can travel by air to Fukuoka-Okinawa-Sapporo for the remaining 2 weeks.

In Japan, accommodation is calculated by the number of person staying so it's not like back in Malaysia where you can get 1 room and cram 3-4 ppl in it. Thus, your cheapest cheapest option will most likely be hostels where you pay for beds or budget hotels. Google is your friend here and look up japanican, rakuten travel, japan-guide and wikitravel. All will have some information that'll get you started.

There'll be plenty of coin-operated laundromat in most big cities so you should be fine. Since you're backpacking - I presume you'll know some of the backpacking tricks in traveling clean but light.

Oct is still not extremely cold so normal long sleeves or perhaps a hoodies will be fine. The only place I can think if is that perhaps Hokkaido might be slightly colder.

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Sep 7 2009, 12:05 AM

Congratulations on your honeymoon.

For relatively affordable Kobe Beef in Tokyo, you can try visiting Satou Steak House in Kichijoji. Here's a link with some pictures of the place (not my page but just info I found using Google) - http://tonkatsudelights.wordpress.com/2008...matsuzaka-beef/

Akiba - ask Firedauz... it's his second home (or sometimes arguably his first home).

I personally love Hakata Ramen so if you have time - try looking for this ramen shop. Website - http://www.maru-kin.co.jp/

Japan Post has pretty affordable postage service so you might want to check it out. One piece of advice, go with the registered mail option or the International EMS if you can - I once sent a package via normal airmail without the registered mail option (supposedly should only take 6-13 days) but our Pos Malaysia damn efficient ... held it for more than 2 weeks (can see from the stamp on the parcel itself) and it arrived at my friend's place a month later. -.-
Site - http://www.post.japanpost.jp/english/index.html

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Sep 7 2009, 01:16 PM

Yup

If you're going from Narita to Tokyo direct; Suica+NEX is your best option.
And yes, you can keep the Suica card as souvenir and reuse it when you come back in the future. It's valid for 10 years.

As for the MetroPass, unless you're traveling on a lot of the Tokyo Metro subways; then it's worth it... but in general - I think just go for the SUICA instead for convenience.

Nope. The ticket is valid for 1 day which is the date of your purchase and is only a 1 time use. When you exit the station, you'll need to use the ticket to exit and won't get it back. So, in your case - you can go from Narita to Yokohama using NEX but you'll need to use your SUICA to get from Yokohama back to Tokyo.

Nope. They don't.

I'll be going to TGS but most likely not staying for the entire day. Perhaps we can meet up in between for drinks and chat?

- Usual survival tips - speak slow and simple english (most of them will be able to understand).
- Get your hands on the Tokyo Guide Map when you arrive in Narita or in any of the major train stations. This map will have directions to all the famous tourist areas as well as the super complex subway/railway map.
- Food wise, most Japanese restaurant will have those plastic display outside of the shop or sometimes english/picture menu. Use that to your advantage.
- Internet, if you're staying at ryokans or those budget hotels; some of them have Internet PCs at the lounge if not; then just look for any cybercafes and you might be just like matt85 who found more than just a cybercafe.

If you have any other questions, just post them here.

For those who are coming during autumn... the reports for koyo has started.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2014.html

This link should give you the information you need. As you'll see, there's 2 trains you can catch if you arrive at 9pm which is the one at 9:31pm and another at 10:16pm.

Hope this helps.

http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperW...=1424&JP_MODE=0

The last time I went back to Malaysia I flew Singapore Airlines codeshare with ANA to Changi then from Changi to LCCT via AirAsia.
It's a bit of a hassle but then it was the cheapest I could find. My entire round trip cost around 50,000 JPY. (48,000 was for the return tix from Narita to Changi). Plus, I get to lepak in Singapore for some time.

No problem. AirAsia return tix from SG to LCCT is dirt cheap if you book early so, if you have the spare time... it's worth it la~ can jalan-jalan summore.

That's great then... much cheaper than flying to KL direct.

Tanoshi - are you on ADSL plan? If you use the Hikari Fiber plans; you can get this -

Haha... this is like one of the main reasons why I love Japan.
The Internet speed here is just nice and fast with no bullshit throttling etc...

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Sep 17 2009, 10:24 PM

D-Tourist: Wow... really? Must be a really bad case of Internet connection then or the hotel's PC is f*cked.

Ohh... I don't even know where exactly the Malaysian Embassy is. I only know it's like near Ebisu or something.
The gathering at the embassy is today issit?

Ahhh~ that's nice bro! Bet you had fun makan eh?

Unfortunately, Sunday I was a bit busy. Just came back from Kusatsu Onsen and man~~~ did you guys see the news on the traffic jam??? It was crazy. Luckily the highway that we drove on wasn't as bad; "only" 15km long jam...



This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Sep 22 2009, 07:44 PM